Latest Versions

Echo is an open-source framework for developing rich web applications. From the developer's perspective, Echo behaves as a user interface toolkit--like Swing or Eclipse SWT. AJAX technology is employed to deliver a user experience to web clients that approaches that of desktop-based applications. Echo applications can be created entirely in server-side Java code using a component-oriented and event-driven API (applies to Echo2 and Echo3) or as client-side applications written in JavaScript (applies to Echo3 only).

The current thinking is to license EchoStudio under a strong copyleft license, i.e., a modified GPL license with a provision to allow use within the Eclipse environment (required as the GPL can technically otherwise prohibit such use). The idea is that everyone should be able to freely use and contribute to it, but without the ability to commercialize it.

Echo3 is a light-weight open-source framework for developing rich single-page web applications. The server-side Java API enables fast & complex client/server applications using a Swing-style component API. The identical JavaScript API allows the easy development of pure client-side applications using the very same clean and intuitive programming model. New components can be easily adopted for both platforms.

Echo3 has had a very long beta phase and the 3.0 release is rock solid and incredibly stable. It is being successfully used in multiple large scale enterprise applications.

Chris an I committed IDE project definitions for IntelliJ IDEA and Eclipse in the current development branch "master" on GitHub. the 3.0.x maintenance branch on the other hand does not include these changes. It's recommended to use IntelliJ as IDE which is also freely available. Eclipse has some limitations i.e. the inability to nest projects.

The first release candidate of Echo3 is now available. This release is identical to the very well tested SVN 2270 version. An updated release of Echo3 Extras will follow in the near future; in the interim the Echo3 Extras build 1386 should be used.

Beta2 is a complete re-imagining of EchoStudio for Echo3. The Form and StyleSheet editors have been redesigned, and now provide support for undo/redo along with faster and easier property editing. The product has been moved from a downloadable plugin to a proper Eclipse update site, such that users can easily upgrade to later releases.

A new default theme has been added to the application templates, reminiscent of the Echo3 demo application. The public domain Tango icons are additionally included. Together they can be used to create great looking applications with little effort.

All property editors have been overhauled for both efficiency and ease of use. Experienced users can (optionally) enter properties as text strings directly into property tables. For example, one could simply type "2px red" directly into a border field. Most property editing dialogs have been redesigned as well. A new menu editor allows for visually creating Extras MenuBarPane, ContextMenu, and DropDownMenu components.

Beta8 adds a much improved TabPane with the capability to render custom graphic borders around tabs. RichTextArea has been overhauled; enhancements include improved aesthetics, cross-browser support, a more standard document format, and new features such as table editing. In server-side Java applications, text components can now progressively notify the server as a user types, making it possible to create "auto complete"-type components with only Java code. Architectural improvements have been made to the framework itself, including new APIs for component developers to receive keyboard events without worrying about browser peculiarities, and an easy and fast API for rendering image-based borders.

A new Echo3 File Transfer Library has been under development during the past several months. As often requested, the upload components now provide notification of uploads from within user interface threads, avoiding unpleasant work for the developer. A new MultipleUploadSelect component is also available which wraps the Flash-based SWFUpload multiple file upload component. The MultipleUploadSelect component can be safely used in situations where Flash installation is not a certainty in the intended deployment environment, as the component will fall back to the traditional browser-based upload when Flash is not available. Other new features include the ability to limit global file upload bandwidth for a server, and to programmatically cancel in-progress uploads.